BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the needle assembly of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view showing the assembled needle assembly in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an operationally cross sectional view showing the needle is received in the barrel of the assembly of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view showing that the rear stop of the barrel is tapered to facilitate extension of the needle hub into the barrel;
FIG. 4A is a schematically cross sectional view showing alternate embodiment of the connection device;
FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view showing that the needle hub is conical to facilitate extension of the needle hub into the barrel;
FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view showing that the pair of wings of the barrel is removed;
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing that the stop ring is C-shaped;
FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view showing that the tube has a sleeve formed on an outer periphery of the tube;
FIG. 9 is a schematically cross sectional view showing that the side face of the confinement ring is tapered;
FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a different embodiment of the needle assembly of the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view showing that the embodiment in FIG. 10 is assembled;
FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view showing that the barrel is sectioned;
FIG. 12A is a schematically cross sectional view showing alternate embodiment of the connection device;
FIG. 13 is a cross sectional view showing that a front stop is provided inside the barrel to enhance the stopping effect of the resilient spring inside the barrel;
FIG. 14 is a cross sectional view showing that the barrel is now provided with a pushbutton mounted around an outer periphery of the barrel; and
FIG. 15 is a schematic cross sectional view of a conventional needle assembly.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to FIG. 1, it is noted that the needle assembly in accordance with the present invention includes a needle hub (11) having a needle (12) firmly connected to a distal end of the needle hub (11) and a tube (13) securely connected to and communicated with a proximal end of the needle hub (11), a stop ring (14) and a barrel (15).
The needle hub (11) further has a front block (111) formed at a joint between the needle hub (11) and the needle (12). The stop ring (14) has a front side (141) and a rear side (142) with a through hole (143) defined through the front side (141) and the rear side (142). The barrel (15) has a front opening (151), a rear opening (153) communicating with the front opening (151), an annular front stop (152) formed on an inner periphery of the barrel (15) to be close to the front opening (151) so as to define a first receiving space (A) between the front opening (151) and the front stop (152) and an annular rear stop (154) formed on the inner periphery of the barrel (15) to be close to the rear opening (153) so as to define a second receiving space (B) between the rear opening (153) and the rear stop (154). Two wings (155) are respectively formed on two opposite sides of the outer periphery of the barrel (15) to facilitate holding of the entire assembly, especially after being assembled.
With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, when the assembly of the present invention is assembled, the stop ring (14) is first firmly mounted around the needle hub (11) to be adjacent to the front block (111) and then the needle hub (11) together with the stop ring (14) is extended into the barrel (15). Due to the resilience of the material which is used to make the barrel (15), the stop ring (14) is able to be forced into the barrel (15) and passed over the rear stop (154). Eventually the stop ring (14) is received in the first receiving space (A) and the needle (12) is extended out of the barrel (15) to allow the entire assembly to be ready for application. Therefore, the tube (13) is able to connect to a container for liquid transmission out of the needle (12).
After use, the operator may pull, by holding the two wings (155), the needle hub (11) backward to retract the needle (12) back into the barrel (15). After the stop ring (14) is received in the second receiving space (B), the needle (12) is safely stored inside the barrel (15) and the operator's safety is secured. That is, because the stop ring (14) is confined by a periphery defining the rear opening (153) and the rear stop (154), the needle (12) is situated inside the barrel (15). As such the operator will no longer be afraid of being injured by the extended needle (12).
With reference to FIG. 4, in order to facilitate the assembly of the present invention, the barrel (15) may be sectioned. That is the barrel (15) is composed of a front half (157) and a rear half (158). A connection device (159) is provided between the front half (157) and the rear half (158) to securely combine the front half (157) and the rear half (158). Preferably the connection device (159) includes an L shaped extension (157A) formed on a peripheral edge of the front half (157) and an L shaped recess (158A) defined in a peripheral edge of the rear half (158) to correspond to and receive therein the L shaped extension (157A). After the L shaped extension (157A) is received in the corresponding L shaped recess (158A), ultrasonic welding is employed to secure the combination between the front half (157) and the rear half (158). Alternate embodiment of the connection device is that a threading (160) respectively formed on an inner peripheral edge of the front half (157) and an outer peripheral edge of the rear half (158), as shown in FIG. 4A, is employed to secure the connection between the front half (157) and the rear half (158). Furthermore, to facilitate the extension of the needle hub (11) as well as the needle (12) into the barrel (15), the rear stop (154a) is tapered. Furthermore, the needle hub (11) as well as the needle (12) is securely confined inside the barrel (15).
The embodiment shown in FIG. 5 has one big difference than the other embodiments. That is, the needle hub (11a) is conical in dimension so that the needle hub (11a) is easily extended into the barrel (15). That is, the dimension of the needle hub (11a) is reduced toward the rear of the needle hub (11a). In addition, the positioning effect provided to the stop ring (14) by the needle hub (11a) is becoming firmer and firmer as the stop ring (14) advances on the needle hub (11a) toward the front block (111).
With reference to FIG. 6, as stated earlier that the operator may hold the two wings (155) to apply the needle assembly of the present invention. However, even if the wings (155) are removed, the operator may still directly hold the barrel (15) to apply the needle assembly.
With reference to FIG. 7, most of the structure of the elements are substantially the same as those disclosed in the previous embodiments. The only difference is that the needle hub (21) of this embodiment further has two confinement rings (211) formed on the outer periphery of the needle hub (21). A distance between the two confinement rings (211) corresponds to a radius thickness of the stop ring (24) so that the stop ring (24) is able to be situated between the two confinement rings (211). Furthermore, to accelerate the mounting of the stop ring (24) onto the needle hub (21), the stop ring (24) is C shaped.
With reference to FIG. 8, it is noted that the needle hub (21) now has only one confinement ring (211) formed on the needle hub (21). A distance between the single confinement ring (211) and the front block (111) corresponds to the radius thickness of the stop ring (24) such that the stop ring (24) may be situated in a space defined between the front block and the confinement ring (211). Still further, the tube (13) may be provided with a sleeve (131) formed on an outer periphery of the tube (13) to facilitate the operator to hold the sleeve (131) to retract the needle hub (21) and the needle (12) into the barrel (15).
With reference to FIG. 9, in order to save material and to facilitate the extension of the needle hub (21) into the barrel (15), a side face of the confinement ring (211a) is tapered.
With reference to FIG. 10, in this embodiment, it is noted that the needle hub (31) has a needle (32) firmly mounted at the distal end thereof and a tube (33) securely connected to the proximal end of the needle hub (31). The stop ring (34) has a front side (341), a rear side (342), a through hole (343) defined through the front side (341) and the rear side (342) and an integrally formed snap plate (344) having an L shaped head (345) formed on a free end of the snap plate (344). A spring (36) is provided between the stop ring (34) and a front opening (351) of the barrel (35).
The barrel (35) now has the front opening (351), a rear opening (353) in communication with the front opening (351), a positioning hole (352) defined through the periphery of the barrel (35) to correspond to the L shaped head (345) of the stop ring (34), a rear stop (354) formed adjacent to the rear opening (353), a pair of wings (355) respectively mounted on two opposed sides of the outer periphery of the barrel (15) and a boss (356) formed on a corresponding one of the two wings (355) to correspond to the L shaped head (345) of the stop ring (34).
With reference to FIG. 11, when the needle assembly of the present invention is assembled, the stop ring (34) is mounted around the needle hub (31) and the spring (36) is extended into the barrel (35) to be stopped by the front opening (351) of the barrel (35). Thereafter, the needle hub (31) together with the stop ring (34) is forced into the barrel (35) to allow the L shaped head (345) to be in the positioning hole (352). Simultaneously, the spring (36) is compressed between the front opening (351) of the barrel (35) and the stop ring (34). Due to the L shaped head (345) being received in the positioning hole (352), the spring (36) is maintained compressed. Thus the operator is able to hold the two wings (355) to apply the needle assembly of the present invention.
After application, the operator is able to bend the wing (355) to allow the boss (356) to urge against the L shaped head (345) which is received in the positioning hole (352) and eventually be extended into the positioning hole (352). After the L shaped head (345) is pushed into the barrel (35), the resilience force stored in the spring (36) is released and the stop ring (34) is pushed backward. Then the operator is able to force the stop ring (34) to be received in the rear receiving space defined between the rear stop (354) and the rear opening (353). The needle (32) is safely received inside the barrel (35).
With reference to FIG. 12, in order to facilitate the assembly of the present invention, the barrel (35) may be sectioned. That is the barrel (35) is composed of a front half (357) and a rear half (358). A connection device (359) is provided between the front half (357) and the rear half (358) to securely combine the front half (357) and the rear half (358). Preferably the connection device (359) includes an L shaped extension (357A) formed on a peripheral edge of the front half (357) and an L shaped recess (358A) defined in a peripheral edge of the rear half (358) to correspond to and receive therein the L shaped extension (357A). After the L shaped extension (357A) is received in the corresponding L shaped recess (358A), ultrasonic welding is employed to secure the combination between the front half (357) and the rear half (358). Alternate embodiment of the connection device is that a threading (160) respectively formed on an inner peripheral edge of the front half (357) and an outer peripheral edge of the rear half (358), as shown in FIG. 12A, is employed to secure the connection between the front half (357) and the rear half (358).
With reference to FIG. 13, in order to enhance the compression to the spring (36), the barrel (35) is provided with an abutting block (39) securely received inside the barrel (35) and abutted against the front opening (351a). The abutting block (39) has a hole (390) defined to allow extension of the needle (32) or the needle hub (31) and a step (391) such that a reduced head of the abutting block (39) is received in the front opening (351a) and an enlarged bottom is received inside the barrel (35) to be engaged with the spring (36).
With reference to FIG. 14, it is noted that the boss (356) in FIG. 10 is now changed to a pushbutton (37) mounted around the barrel (35b) and having an annular urging plate (370) extending on the outer periphery of the barrel (35b) and a rod (371) integrally extending from an inner face of the annular urging plate (370) and into the positioning hole (352) of the barrel (35) to abut the L shaped head (345) of the snap plate (344). Furthermore, a cap (38) is provided to the barrel (35) to close the front opening (351). The cap (38) has an extension hole (381) defined to allow the extension of the needle hub (31) or needle (32). After the application of the present invention, the operator is able to press the pushbutton (37) to force the rod (371) to push the L shaped head (345) to leave the positioning hole (352). Thereafter, the spring (36) pushes the stop ring (34) backward inside the barrel (35) to be received in the rear receiving space defined by the rear opening (353) of the barrel (35) and the rear stop (354). Then the needle (32) is safely received inside the barrel (35). Therefore, the operator needs not be afraid of being injured by the protruded needle while handling the needle assembly.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Patent Application
20080051726
